


A Real Hero

by madeliefjes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Art School, Alternate Universe - College/University, Baker Harry, Baker Louis, Bakery, Cupcakes, Drunk Louis, M/M, Protective friend, Sassy Louis, Shy Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-06-10 17:30:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6966487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madeliefjes/pseuds/madeliefjes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"When he came to me, chaos ensued.</i><br/><i>I don't know how and I don't know why</i><br/><i>but it was the most perfectly organized mess.</i><br/><i>For once, nothing felt out of place - including me."</i><br/>- Ms Poetess</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Louis couldn't help himself, he just hated everything and everyone in this very moment. It was his mothers idea to set him up with the job at the bakery close to his school so: 'He would learn the value of money and realize she would not keep paying for him all the time.' Thanks mom, but he was already 23 and when you're in college you do learn the bloody value of money when you're out of food because you spend everything on the cheapest vodka there is. The job in particular wasn't the problem, it was the fact that he would've gratefully taken her advice and started looking for a job that maybe _fit_ him. It wasn't already enough that he was probably the gayest guy in college, which didn't bother him at all, it was the fact that now people would see him as this stereotype gay guy who loves the color pink and cupcakes with sprinkles all over them. And he _wasn't._

“It's not because I'm gay that you're setting me up with this sissy job.”

“Louis, language please.” His mother had eyed him angrily, gesturing to his little sisters. “It's not because you're _gay_ , it's because I know the people who run the place. They're friendly but will teach you the value of hard work too, and I just want you to find something decent.”

“Something _decent_? This is decent to you? If you would've gotten me a job in a grocery store, I wouldn't be this bummed out. It's the fact that you're setting me up to sprinkle fairy glitter over rosy cupcakes while I tell everyone what a great weather it is outside? And how _marvelous_ their new haircut is?”

“Fairy glitter!” Daisy repeated, clapping her hands. “Lou, make fairy glitter cuppy-cake?”

“Yay, Lou make us cupcakes!” Phoebe smiled widely at him, clapping her hands. “I want cupcake!”

“Yeah, yeah, you'll get them girls.” He sighed in his hands, strongly ignoring his mothers grin.

And that's how he was forced to do the job anyway, his sisters were cheering around him until the morning he left, making him promise a two hundred times that he would bring beautiful _fairy glitter_ cupcakes. Sometimes he wished he could just shut up and think twice before opening his mouth. 

He flicked his bangs in place before putting the key in the lock, hoping Liam would turn up soon enough so they could get pissed drunk. He also sincerely hoped that his mother realized every penny he earned was going to junk food and more decent alcohol. Not savings, not a car, strictly important stuff. 

The dorm looked the same as when they left, “tactically cleaned up” as Liam would call it. They had just put all the trash out, did the dishes and stuffed the rest of their stuff in every closet which had the capacity to carry it. And that was that. He opened the door to his room and found it smelling awful, like something had died in here. Soon enough he found out a kebab leftover had sneaked underneath his bed and had the chance to rot its fullest for two months. Just his luck.

When Liam arrived he was far more excited than Louis, repeating how _glad_ he was to be back. “And you? What's gotten in to you?”

“Where do I even start?” Louis sighed, dramatically raising his hands in the air. “First of all, I had to cope with mediocre shags all summer long. Second of all, my mum set me up with the _gayest_ fucking job in the history. Third and last of all, I just found a kebab which is probably spreading around radioactivity underneath my bed.”

Liam laughed, opening his bags and putting his stuff away. “Damn Louis, a bakery? Going to be so cute in those aprons, selling cupcakes!” 

“See, _that's_ the bloody reason I don't want to do this job. It's an invitation for faggot jokes and my mum doesn't seem to get that. She's going to ruin my reputation here!”

“What reputation?” Liam asked, ducking away from the history book thrown at him. “No seriously, it'll be alright. Is it the one not far from campus? Frosted heaven?”

“Yes, please don't say the name,” He sighed, sitting on top of the kitchen counter and opening a bottle of beer. “Everyone will take the piss out of me, you'll see. And what if that one girl from your class is still working there? As soon as she'd realize I'm sharing dorms with you she'll probably ask for a sperm sample or something. I will kill myself.”

“On moments like these, I really get why you're a drama student. Always so dramatic, Louis, I can't wait to the performance you're going to give after your first day of work. Maybe I should invite other people, ask money for it then we both have an income.”

“Ha-ha,” Louis mouthed, leaning against the wall. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Shut up and hand me a beer.”

\- - - - -

Louis and Liam were watching Grease again, which started to be a tradition whenever they came back from home. 

“I should dance like that,” Liam said. “Don't you think I'd give me good grades, making a Grease rerun?”

“You always say that when you're drunk,” Louis pointed out, taking another sip from his glass of vodka. “But you end up changing your mind every time. Just do it, if it fails it would be at least ridiculously funny.”

“Good friend, you are.” 

“The best.”

There were knocks on the door and they immediately exchanged looks. 

“Did you invite someone?”

“No.”

“You go.”

“No, you go.”

After a thirty second battle and a lot more knocks, Liam rolled his eyes and got up to the door.

“Oh, Niall! We didn't knew you were coming.”

“Maybe you guys should check your phone more often, huh?” He greeted them with a hug and then plopped down next to Louis on the couch. “Grease again?”

“Of course, never gets old. But you wouldn't understand since you're an artist of the less physical form.”

“I hope one day I get to edit the movie your in and spread all of the ugliest shots of your face around the world.”

“Then I'll sue you.”

“Good, sue me.”

“How lovely to see how much you've missed each other!” Liam laughed, handing Niall his glass of strawberry vodka.

“ _Besides_ ,” Louis start, fully aware he was ignoring Liam's idiotic comment. “I don't deserve this bullying since I'm going to have to work at the bakery.”

Niall immediately giggled. “You're joking? That's probably the gayest thing I've seen you do and I even saw you snogging guys.” 

Louis punched Niall in the arm, making him laugh even more. “It's not fucking funny, my mum set me up for this and people are going to call me a sissy!”

“ _Sissy_!” Niall laugh was now filling the room. “Who even uses that word?”

And Louis felt like he deserved an even harder punch right on the same spot.

\- - - - -

Louis woke up with his face hanging over the side of his bed, a little pool of saliva on the floor and a pulsing headache. Now it really felt like he was back on campus. When he looked at the clock, he found out he was already late for his first class.

“Liam, are you up?” He groaned, his voice hoarse because of the alcohol and cigarettes. But there was no reply, so he'd have to go and get some damn water himself.

When he got into the kitchen, he could still see the remains of last night. Empty bags of crisps, crumbles all over the couch and Niall snoring loudly in the middle of it.

“We're late!” Louis yelled, drinking two glasses of water at once. “We're bloody late on the first day.”

“You're late, fucker,” Niall groaned, turning away from the noise. “My lecture starts at two in the afternoon and Liam's at three.”

_Great, really fucking great._

Liam emerged from the bathroom in a towel. “What's the yelling for?”

“Why didn't _you_ wake me up?” Louis snapped, pouring his cereal in a bowl.

“Because last time you smacked me in the face and I told you I'm not doing it again. Ever.”

“Asshole.”

“Also, aren't you supposed to get ready for your second lecture?” Liam ducked away from the spoon soaring at his head.

Louis finished his bowl of cereal and slumped himself to his room. It smelled like alcohol and sweat, making him more nauseous by the second. He decided a pair of trainers and a hoodie were enough for the day, it would hide away the mess his hair and face were.

“See you after class,” He said to them. “If I haven't died.”

The road to his classroom seemed even longer than usual, the sun was shining violently on his skin and he could feel the smell of his room return to his very aura. He'll definitely have to take a seat in the back by himself, for the sake of his fellow students.

When he entered, most people were already too busy chattering about the summer and ignored his appearance which he was glad about, it wasn't as if anyone cared anyway. It wasn't like he had too many friends in his course either, most of the boys were too busy talking up the girls and he didn't mind sitting in the back when they were doing a practice play to watch the guys asses. The girls.. Let's not even get started. He grabbed his art history book from his backpack, laid his arms on top of it followed by his head. Art history was the greatest time for a little nap, even without a hangover.

“Excuse me?” 

Louis groaned, opening his eyes to see a _very_ tall girl glaring at him suspiciously. 

“Louis Tomlinson?” She said, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head to the side as if she were taking in every little detail of him. Damn, what was her problem? This wasn't an 'This is my seat' row right?

“Yes,” He said, still not moving his head up. “What is it?”

“Apparently,” She started, twisting her finger around her just-got-out-of-bed hair. “You're going to work for my parents. And since I thought you were in my class, I came to check if I was having the image of the right guy. Sadly, I am.”

Louis now moved his head up in disbelief. Did she really just say that? “'M sorry?”

“You heard me very well. All I want to say is that if you're going to walk around like a stinking slob around the bakery, my parents will be displeased.”

Louis swallowed, her dark eyes still burning through his skin. What the hell was wrong with this girl? Why was it her problem how he would bloody enter the bakery? He balled his fists, trying to keep himself at peace but it was hard when insults were being thrown at him by a girl he hadn't acknowledged in all of the time he spent in this shitty classroom. 

“Do you understand?”

The tone in how she said it made his heart pump even fast, he really, _really_ wanted her to shut her mouth. Or even punch it shut but he couldn't make that to his mum, she'd kill him. And punching a girl is pathetic, even with her height.

“Yes, you were very clear, thank you very much. It was _so_ nice meeting you, hope to see you around some time soon. Maybe, the bakery?” He smiled sarcastically, blinking a few times.  


She gave him a fake smile in return and moved away, sitting down on the other side of the room which, at least, made it a bit easier for Louis to stop imagining his textbook flying across the room and cracking open her skull.

It wasn't already bad enough that he had to fucking _work_ in that bakery, now the owners daughter seems to be the Devil's daughter itself. And what for? Because he had one of his shitty hangover days where he couldn't be flawless enough for her liking? He banged his head against his book in frustration before plugging in his ear buds and drifting to sleep to her parents smacking him around with a rolling pin.


	2. Chapter 2

Louis was pacing around his dorm nervously, tomorrow was his first day of work and he wasn't ready. Not ready at all. The girl's piercing brown eyes and her bushy mane were burned in his vision. _Why did she have to do that?_ How was he possibly going to keep this job when it already failed before it even started? 

“What's wrong with you now?” Liam asked, throwing his bag on the couch and walking over to the kitchen. “If you keep pacing around like that you're going to damage the tiles.”

“Are you going to keep making that bloody joke whenever I'm pacing, Liam?” Louis snapped, tucking his fringe in place. “I should probably already look for a new job.”

“What for?” Liam raised his eyebrows, sipping his coke. “Did you quit already? Come on, you can't -”

“No,” He groaned, dropping in the couch and rubbing his face. “This girl in my art history class, which I have probably never seen before came up to me, asking me if I'm Louis Tomlinson. I said yes, so she told me she _sadly_ already guessed that I was. So, I'm literally in shock? She starts telling me that her parents will be _displeased_ if I walk around like a stinking slob.”

Liam was staring in both shock and amusement. “Are you serious? This happened?”

“Why would I be lying, Liam!” He shouted.

“O my God, that's.. awful, and you've never seen her before?”

“Never, ever. Which I'm surprised about since she's 10 foot fucking tall!” 

Liam tilted his head, making Louis scrunch his eyebrows together in confusion. 

“Is it the girl with the gigantic hair and sharp jaws?”

Louis nodded, wondering what he was going to find out now. Maybe she had sacrificed some people that worked there to Satan in the past, and he was next on the list.

“Always at the side of that weird guy, same height as her?”

“I don't know about some weird guy, Liam. I only saw a giant female, towering over me and ready to beat my bloody arse.”

“Yeah,” Liam nodded to himself. “It's probably Elisabeth, she does the directing course. Quite the difficult woman, very protective over her friend. They're always sitting together, she tries to do as many classes with him as possible. Everyone's been guessing they're boyfriend and girlfriend, but no one has them seen having physical contact so it's quite interesting. Many people in my class have started bets.” 

“ _Bets?_ How pathetic, Liam. But great, how is that going to help me at all?”

“Didn't say it was going to help, but now you have a little background about who she is. Would not try getting in a fight, she has already beaten up someone after touching her friend. I can't come up with his name.”

How _marvelous_ , Louis thought. At least if she did, he'd beg to finish him right away because if there's something he didn't want to do, is living with shame of being 'a gay guy beating up by a girl.'

\- - - - -

Louis groaned loudly as he heard his alarm go off, he just wasn't ready to go to the bakery. _He really wasn't._ That stupid bitch had even made him get up earlier, so he could take a shower, do his hair properly and look as if he was planning to go out for some late night fun. But no, he had to do this ritual to work at the bakery because she wanted him to look fabulous. Well, if she wanted the fabulous Louis, she was going to get him in it's fullest form.Skinny jeans and all, whether she wanted that or not. 

He brushed his teeth, looking at his fatigue stained eyes in the mirror. How could a girl he didn't even knew have this impact on him? _Her height. She's a giant._ He rolled his eyes at his reflection. How could it be fair for her to be that tall and him to be so small? Why couldn't she be tiny so he could chuckle away her lecture? The fact that Liam had to point out she'd beaten someone up before sure didn't make it easier.

He walked out of the bathroom, smelling and looking fresher than he had when he arrived. Wearing his black skinny jeans, simple white shirt and vans. Hopefully it was good enough for them.

“Look at you,” said Liam. “Are you going out?”

“Apparently I have to look dashing in a bakery. So, dashing is what they get.” He sat down next to Liam, pouring cereal into a bowl, realizing he wasn't so hungry at all.

“Nervous?”

“More than nervous, I might die if my heart keeps pumping like that.” He sighed.

Liam squeezed his shoulder. “You'll be fine, you're charismatic and you don't look like a stinking slob. What could go wrong?”

_Everything_ , Louis thought. _Literally everything._

\- - - - -

He had already smoked two cigarettes on the ten minute walk and the fact that he could already see the logo appearing didn't make him any calmer. What was he going to say? “Hi, I'm Louis. The person your daughter wants to kill, haha!”  
Or maybe they already knew about him, ready to glare at him and send him back home. 

There was a tall boy coming outside, putting the banner on the street before cleaning it off with tissue and writing something new on it. He seemed almost as nervous as Louis was, constantly adjusting his rubber gloves. Maybe there was someone who was as frightened of the girl as him, a companion at least, ha!

“Good morning,” Louis said, smiling. “It's my first day, care to show me around?”

The boy scanned Louis nervously, still fidgeting with his gloves. “You're Louis, I guess?”

“The one and only,” He winked, looking at the banner that had perfectly symmetrical writing. “Damn, I can't even write like that if I try. Is it your first day as well?”

The boy shook his head. “No, I've been working here before college even.”

_Shit._ “Alright, what's your name?”

“Harry,” He said, his neck twitching three times. His cheeks were burning red while he avoided every eye contact.

“Okay, Harry.” Louis said, feeling slightly awkward with this encounter. “I guess I'll go inside and meet the owners.”

He moved beside Harry and saw him dash aside when he was right about to brush against him, making Louis even more confused. _What the hell was up with him?_

To his great relief, the girls parents were nothing like her. They were very kind and welcoming, showing Louis around the bakery. It didn't seem so horrible as Louis imagined, there were notes sticking to the walls in case he forgot something and didn't have time to ask. Everything was labeled alphabetically, ordered perfectly and he wondered how they managed to keep it like that. When he complimented them about it, they smiled and said that it was in fact Harry who took care off it. Making the curly haired boy's cheeks bright red for the second time, while he was washing his hands violently. 

The only thing Louis wasn't too happy about and he couldn't deny he wasn't expecting it after seeing it on Harry, was the bright pink apron with “ _Frosted Heaven_ ” in bright white, curly letters across it. He imagined wearing a banner with _”I'm gay”_ around his neck was just a teeny, weeny bit less embarrassing.

“Harry will explain you the details, is that okay, Harry?” Maria asked, smiling sweetly at him.

“Yes, of course.” He nodded, smiling weakly and putting on a new pair of rubber gloves. “No problem.”

Harry didn't know if the boy was just plain weird, or he just seemed to dislike Louis in every bit. Every time Louis would get closer to him to take some flour or sugar, _which was right there, beside him_ , he'd move away nervously avoiding that Louis might or might not bump his arm against his. 

The fact that he wasn't talking wasn't helping either, there was a heavy silence weighing on Louis shoulders, only broken by the sounds of the mixers and ovens. Harry kept flying around the kitchen, counting things over and over, checking cupcakes for the millionth time and washing his hands violently. Louis guessed that in the past hours, he must've worn over twenty pair of gloves already while he was down to two because he thought it wouldn't be okay to mix the purple frosting in the flour mixture.

“So, what are you studying?” Louis decided, getting more annoyed by the second. He just wasn't used to this type of quiet, not even in the bloody library.

“Photography,” He replied softly, not even looking up at Louis. “And you?”

“Drama,” Louis said, kneading the dough. “People tend to say I'm fit for it, apparently I'm dramatic, I guess you'll find that out.”

Harry didn't chuckle, he didn't budge and it annoyed Louis to his very core. He was so focused on counting and making everything perfect that he didn't even seem to listen or _care_ if Louis was there. Why did he seem so afraid of having one cupcake too many or too less anyway? Was he that frightened that Louis would outdo him and be fucking employee of the month? Seriously, how was he supposed to keep up working with him if he wouldn't say a word.

“Alright,” He hissed between teeth, cleaning up the flour off his apron. “I guess we'll give each other the silent treatment then.”

“No, no!” Harry spoke up suddenly, as if that pulled him out of his thoughts. “I'm sorry, I tend to get really.. focused.”

“I noticed,” Louis was staring at the back of the boy's curly head, wondering why he couldn't even look at him. And just like that he had lost him again, in counting, putting things back in order and washing his hands. He would mumble things under his breath, his head would twitch to the side three times every little while and Louis wondered why on earth _he_ had to be the one to have this job.

“Hey Harry,” A voice from behind Louis said, going up to him and ignoring him as well. “How's it going?”

Harry smiled at her, “I'm doing fine, Liz. Thank you for asking.”

_Oh, so that's the famous pair Liam was talking about._

“Great!” She beamed at him, softly squeezing his shoulder and then looking right into Louis curious stare. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Louis replied, cleaning up as quick as possible so he could get out of there.

“You listened,” Elisabeth said coolly. “I'm glad you did. How's the first day going?”

Louis was balling his fists, trying to keep calm. “ _Splendid_ , thank you for asking. Me and Harry had the most wonderful conversations, didn't we?”

Her eyebrows scrunched together in an angry glare. “Don't joke about him like that. Not everyone's a talker.”

Harry was hissing ' _Liz, stop_ ' under his breath but she kept looking at Louis with the same anger.

“Okay, well I'm _sorry_ , Madame.” He laughed, taking off his apron and putting it away. “Jokes are for fun, maybe you should look for some fun, huh? Might knock down the glaring just a tiny bit.”

Harry's hand was squeezing around her wrist nervously and he kept saying: “ _It's fine, Liz. He's okay, I'm okay._ ”

Louis grabbed his stuff and walked past her, not breaking eye contact. “Well, lovely lovebirds. I have to go, it was amazing seeing you here, I had _such_ a great time! I'll bring the bottle of fun next time, alright?”

And with that he said goodbye to her parents who handed him the money and complimented him on how great he did. He hoped they heard it, because he wasn't planning on leaving at all, _game on._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Louis, what did he do to deserve this??? Haha, hope you're enjoying and are as curious as I am. Thank you for reading!! ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Aren't we all just dying to know where this is going? ;) I'll update asap, thank you for reading! ♥


End file.
